Zero Effort
by The Ragin Pagan
Summary: Cryo gives you time to think, to make plans. To plot revenge. That's exactly what Jack plans to do; get revenge. But first she must discover where she came from, and then figure out how to get there. In cryo, that could be a problem.
1. Time To Think

Author's Note: This is an introduction to a brief FF that I almost immediately thought of. The character is obviously Jack, contemplating her past . Mass Effect 2 and Jack belong to Bioware and EA Games.

* * *

_Life's tough out in space; someone always tries to fuck you over. Friends, family; not just enemies. Even some you just meet on the street. They don't give a damn about you, your feelings, or even your gender. To them, you're just another account with credits. _

_I was in that cell for a while. A cell… That's a joke. It was a fuckin' freezer. The little boys outside were too afraid of what I'd do to them, so I got to stay strapped in tight under ice._

_Whatever. It gave me time to think, you know?_

_They called the prison Purgatory. That's a crock of shit. Purgatory is a temporary punishment for your soul; if you believe all that religious crap. That place was a permanent, frozen Hell. It can't even be called a prison; more like a slave market. Prison is a place you can escape from; give them a good work-out session. Out on Purgatory, there was only space, no where to go. But boy, do I love visitors._

_That scaly bastard Kuril learned the hard way that I'm a tough bitch. We had some "shoppers" come, looking to buy some "helpers." People never change; they wanted slaves. Either to kill or work to death or even to fuck; I don't care. _

_So I got out, stole their ship. Got all the way to Erinle before the Blue Suns caught me again. After that they learned not to put a Biotic in a box. So they stuck me in the freezer._

_Yeah, I'm a Biotic. I don't know if I always was, and I don't care. Chances are I was made this way, by those pricks at Cerberus. Then Cerebrus finally caught me. Some big hero called Shepard or something. So I guess I work for the people I hate._

_But that's life, you know?_

_The place I came from was a Cerberus facility. I don't remember the planet; Pragia, or some shit like that. It was just hot all the time. The only thing that made the heat bearable was the constant rainfall. Of course, that made it comfortable for more than those Cerberus pricks; mutated plants were a constant danger._

_Good thing I was worse._

_The other kids – kids like me – they were happy. At least, as far as I could tell they were happy. We'd have daily fights, though the guards called them "test runs." They usually ended with one dead kid._

_I loved to fight, loved the thrill of it, the tingle in my fists, the warm feelings… I had to love it; otherwise I got the active end of a cattle-prod. Half the time I didn't know what was going on. The scientists would inject me with a cocktail of their little serum, and I would just black out. Next thing I knew I was staring down at a dead kid, his body all twisted and battered, and the guards were dragging me back to my cell._

_After a while, I started to fight back._

_I wanted more, always more. I felt like a fuckin' Krogan; no brain of my own, just the anger and the power and the adrenaline. It felt good. Every time those guards would drag me back, I would struggle and kick like they were dragging me to my death. _

_Maybe they were, after all. But I guess they found out why they shouldn't have put me in a box._


	2. Escape

Jack stared up at her ceiling, noting every crack. She had long ago stopped trying to get the attention of the other Biotic subjects outside; it never worked. They continued to play and lift boxes in the air like good little sheep. The wolf got to stay locked up until it was time to kill.

When she thought about it, that's what Jack was; a wolf. Cerberus kept her under lock-and-key, and the only time they took her out was to inject her with drugs and let her beat the hell out of the other kids. She was a pet, not a person.

The dressed her, as well as all the other kids, in a plain, single-piece uniform outfit. They were stark white, and form fitting so as not to hinder the Biotic children during their exercises. The boys' heads were shaved short, the girls' hair was cut at the chin, giving some distinction between gender but also maintaining a very prisoner-like look.

She was only twelve, but had never known how to really be a kid. She never knew her parents, and had never experienced the joy of having a friend. Her only friends were at the ends of her arms. They protected her, fought with her, and they would die with her. It was just her and her fists.

Sometimes they pissed her off, or they were her only release from stress. She would rip her sheets to ribbons and wrap them around her wrists until her fingers went numb. Then she would pull, trying to rip her hands off. It usually ended with her bed breaking in half; this one was her tenth bed.

A small explosion shook Jack from her trance. She got off the bed and moved to the sealed door. She pounded on it, shouting out at the guard. "Hey, what the fuck's going on out there?" She kicked the door in frustration, "I want to fight too, dammit!"

A heavy pound answered her. "Language, you little brat. Shut it before I get a doctor to calm you down. You want that? Another needle-nap?"

Jack smirked and kicked the door, "Pussy," she taunted. She jumped and looked out her window as a fireball jetted out from one of the facility's many rooms. She heard faint radio chatter outside her door before it hissed open, the guard arming his Gorgon Assault Rifle. "Alright, Jack, looks like we're going on a--"

The guard never got to finish. Blue energy flared along Jack's body as she let out a primal roar, lunging at the guard. She slammed into the man, her arm pressed against his throat as she pinned him to the wall. "Thanks for getting the door, you're such a gentleman," she mocked before she rammed her fist into the man's gut.

He dropped to the floor, doubled over in pain. Jack stared down at the helpless man; his armor was cracked where she hit him, and blood leaked from the openings. Emotions ran rampant through her mind, but most of all was the adrenaline, the anticipation for a fight.

"God damn little bitch," The guard moaned, struggling to his feet, "You got this coming."

Jack snarled and thrust her hand out, hitting the guard with a biotic burst. The man screamed as he struck the wall behind him, leaving a large bloody stain. Jack stepped up to the body and spat down at the dead, broken guard.

"You people shouldn't have fucked with me," she sneered, kicking the corpse. "Now it's time for payback." She left the scene behind her, taking the nearest corridor to find the shuttle-bay. She intended to leave, but not before she would burn this place to the ground.

As Jack rounded the corner she saw him; the doctor who ran most of the tests on her. He spoke frantically to a holo-vid recorder, no doubt leaving a message for Cerberus. Everything he did to her, every poke, prod and injection came to mind.

"Wait, Jack no!" the helpless man screamed as she ran towards him, his hands held up in a feeble defense.

The Biotic slammed into him, blue energy flaring across her body. She swung her fists wildly as incoherent screams drowned out any resistance the doctor shouted at her. With each connected blow Jack felt a little better, but also wanted more. Her spine tingled, and the warm blood on her fists brought a strange focus to her mind. She grunted as she kicked the doctor's body into a wall. She breathed heavily through her mouth, the fresh blood dripping from her tiny fists, her best friends.

Screams sounded further down the hallway, breaking Jack from her trance. Her head snapped up as she looked to the source. Five soldiers were coming fast, more likely than not to try and subdue her. _'Fuck that,' _she thought to herself, taking a combat stance.

"Arm suppressors," one of the soldiers shouted at his squad, "they want her alive!"

"Go to hell!" Jack screamed, unleashing a barrage on the men. Several Biotic explosions shot from Jack's feet as she thrust her hand up, bursting from the ground in a rapid line towards the soldiers. They tried to get out of the way, but were caught too quickly and thrown to the side.

Before the squad-leader could recover, Jack ran up and stomped on his helmet with a savage roar. The tempra-glass cracked, and the soldier gave an agonized scream as several shards lanced into his face. Jack continued stomping, flares of Biotic energy sweeping out from her small form.

One of the soldiers grabbed Jack's short-cut hair and pulled her off the dead soldier. She screamed in pain and anger, twisting around to get a shot off at the soldier who held her. She kicked at his kidney, her leg glowing blue as her Biotics amped up the attack. The sodlier screamed as he was sent flying, a few strands of Jack's hair still held in his hand.

Jack gritted her teeth, a hand going to where her hair had been pulled out. "Screw this," she hissed, pulling the dead soldiers' combat knife from his boot. She quickly cut off her hair and left the light brown strands in the puddle of blood at her feet.

She looked up to see sunlight. It wasn't such an odd sight, but it meant that outside would be hell. She was just wearing her uniform, though; the soldiers would be dressed in full armor. "Sucks for them," she muttered her gaze dropping back to her surroundings. She thought for a moment before she grabbed her uniform, cutting it at the waist with the knife. She tossed the cut top to the side, now dressed in nothing but her undergarments and the makeshift pants. It would do, and she'd be better off in the Pragian climate than the soldiers would.

The young Biotic continued on her way, the combat knife held tightly in her grip. She doubted she would need it, but it would be fun nonetheless.


End file.
